over the years as Ive decorated a room Ive removed the radiator, in some instances the decoration took 3 or 4 weeks, by the time I finished wiring and getting the walls plastered, anyway, we seem to be struggling with heating certain areas of the house, there's no air in the system Ive bled the radiators etc and I've googled a bit about balancing the system but Im not sure exactly how it should be done, is there a general process?
Balancing the System
- Thread starter fattony
- Start date
I use a roll of black PVC tape and an infrared thermometer. Stick the tape to the radiator return pipes as a target for the thermometer.
If you are having difficulty heating then you want to maximise the output of the existing radiators, which means increasing the flow through the colder radiators by reducing the flow through hotter radiators. The model of boiler and pump can influence the best strategy. The flow through the radiators should not be less than the required flow through the boiler (otherwise extra flow has to come from a by-pass valve and you are just de-rating your radiators).
If you've got an external by-pass valve, you can judge the flow through the boiler by measuring its flow and return pipe temperatures while the system is warming up. If the temperature difference exceeds 20°C, the flow through the boiler is too low and it might shut off to protect the heat exchanger (or worse, not shut off and allow the heat exchanger to crack).
Regardless of the boiler type, if the temperature difference between boiler flow and return is less than 11°C, the flow rate is probably too high and you lose some boiler efficiency.
If you are having difficulty heating then you want to maximise the output of the existing radiators, which means increasing the flow through the colder radiators by reducing the flow through hotter radiators. The model of boiler and pump can influence the best strategy. The flow through the radiators should not be less than the required flow through the boiler (otherwise extra flow has to come from a by-pass valve and you are just de-rating your radiators).
If you've got an external by-pass valve, you can judge the flow through the boiler by measuring its flow and return pipe temperatures while the system is warming up. If the temperature difference exceeds 20°C, the flow through the boiler is too low and it might shut off to protect the heat exchanger (or worse, not shut off and allow the heat exchanger to crack).
Regardless of the boiler type, if the temperature difference between boiler flow and return is less than 11°C, the flow rate is probably too high and you lose some boiler efficiency.
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